YES! Recommends: Nourish

Nourish is an education initiative that celebrates food and community. Its food curriculum and lesson plans, short films and discussion guides, and powerful action ideas will help young people and their families, schools, and communities think about the food they eat and what they can do to make healthy choices for themselves and planet Earth.

Want a wonderful resource that will get your students thinking about the story of the food they eat, and what they can do to make healthy choices available to them and their community?

Nourish is an education initiative that celebrates food and community. It encourages young people, families, and community to talk about food—its nutritional value (or not), who it supports—and how it sustains Earth, and us.

For teachers and students, Nourish offers a robust menu of media and learning resources that will capture your interest and inspire you to think more about the food that you eat and where it comes from.

The Nourish Curriculum Guide, developed by the Center for Ecoliteracy, is a companion to the Nourish film and offers six lessons with accompanying activities, action projects, and more to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability. Lessons align with national curriculum standards and learning benchmarks. Themes include: The Story of Food; Seasonal, Local Food; Food Traditions; Food and Ecosystems; Analyzing Food Ads; and School Lunch Survey.

Please note that lessons may be used with or without the Nourish film. Though aimed at middle school, the curriculum can be adapted for both elementary and high school grades.

In keeping with our “healthy bodies” theme, the following lessons are of particular interest:

For our health and the planet, there are many benefits to eating local and seasonal foods. What happens when eating local isn’t practical? In this lesson, students also will research and create a “seasonal circle” on what produce is available in their area. (see p. 26 of guide)

Most food advertising is for highly processed or fast foods – have you ever seen a TV ad promoting quinoa? In this lesson, your students will become privy to the marketing techniques food companies use to get them to eat more and buy more. With this insight, your students will be able to look at these promotions with critical eyes and make more informed and healthy food choices. (see p.48 of guide)

How is the food in your school cafeteria? Does it offer healthy alternatives, or is it all pizza, corn dogs, and chef’s surprise? In this lesson, students create a questionnaire asking their classmates about school lunches. After analyzing the data, they will make recommendations on how to improve their cafeteria’s offerings. (see p. 56 of guide)

NOTE: To access the curriculum, you will need to register with Nourish. Sign-up is free, and please be assured that your email will not be shared.

YES! Magazine does its best to provide educators with easily accessible teaching tools. Email login or sign-up is becoming more common practice. We will recommend that you register only when we believe the materials are worth your time and effort.

Use Nourish’s collection of 31 short films and video clips as a tool to jumpstart a discussion on food. From food guru Michael Pollan’s Food Chain to healthy food advocate Anna Lappe’s Hunger and Obesity to British chef Jamie Oliver’s Try Something New, you and your students will have plenty to talk about. These beautifully filmed videos—narrated by top-name foodies—can be searched by topic and narrator. The entire collection of 54 bite-sized films is available for purchase on DVD.

Additional resources

Nourish StoreThrough the end of October, receive a 25 percent discount on purchases. Please use discount code:FOODDAY12

Nourish in ActionRead stories on how teachers and their students use Nourish to create meaningful change around food.

Nourish is an education initiative that celebrates food and community. Through its multi-media resources, and teacher and youth seminars, Nourish facilitates a public conversation about our food system that encourages young people and families, in particular, to make healthier food choices and to be an active participant in the food movement.

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